Brassiere

ABSTRACT

An adjustable brassiere incorporating a halter including a back, sides and straps and separate cups adapted to be releasably attached to one another and to the sides and straps of the halter. The back and sides of the halter or portions thereof may be fully or partially elasticized and may be provided with midback or side fastening means. The cups are formed in a variety of sizes, shapes and styles to permit the wearer to modify the under-garment to match her individual contours and aesthetic tastes. If desired, the halter, with or without the straps, may be incorporated as an integral part of other wearing apparel.

[111 3,826,266 I July 30, 1974 1 BRASSIERE [76] Inventor: Selma Alpert,12720 Vose St.,

Hollywood, Calif. 91605 [22] Filed: Dec.26, 1972 21 App1.,No,: 318,248

[52] US. Cl 128/435, 128/456, 128/482,

128/492, 128/481 [51] Int. Cl. A41c 3/00 [58] Field of Search 128/425,435, 441, 456,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 406,491 7/1889 Williams128/481 2,654,091 10/1953 Nelson 128/456 X 2,671,218 3/1954 Luhr 128/456X 2,883,987 4/1959 White [28/462 3,203,424 8/1965 Garutso 128/4923,311,112 3/1967 Murray 128/425 3,425,420 2/1969 Steinberger... 128/506X 3,478,739 11/1969 Librande 128/482 X Primary ExaminerWerner l-l.Schroeder [57]. ABSTRACT An adjustable'brassiere incorporating a halterincluding a back, sides and straps and separate cups adapted to bereleasably attached to one another and to the sides and strapsof thehalter. The back and sides of the halter or portions thereof may befully or partially elasticized and may be provided with mid-back or sidefastening means. The cups are formed in a variety of sizes, shapes andstyles to permit the wearer to modify the under-garment to match herindividual contours and aesthetic tastes. If desired, the halter, withor without the straps, may be incorporated as an integral part of otherwearing apparel.

8 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures BRASSIERE BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THEINVENTION The fashion worlds renunciation of the de rigeur approval tostyle, and the recent introduction of new materials and constructiontechniques have created a need for the clothes-conscious'woman toinclude among her under-thinga a variety of brassieres to match herwardrobe. The cost of acquiring and adding to such a collection hasbecome a matter of no small concern both to the industry and to thepurchasing public. One of the objects of the present invention is theprovision of a brassiere having a basic halterand a selection of easilyreplaceable cups. Instead of buying a complete garment to wear with eachnew outfit, one now need only purchase a relatively inexpensive set ofcups of the desired style, color, fabric and construction.

Young women whose figures are changing and developing unevenly havealways had difficulty in selecting a brassiere to fit satisfactorily.Another object of this invention is the provision of a brassiere forwhich the youthful wearer can select cups of different sizes toaccommodate her contours perfectly. With its novel construction as hergrowth continues, she can maintain this perfect fit by merely replacingone or both of the cups without having to purchase a whole newbrassiere.

In mature women often one breast is somewhat larger than the other. Forsuch women the subject invention affords an effective and inexpensivealternative to the custom-made brassiere. To even out their contoursthey can now use a slightly padded cup with an unpadded one, while beingassured of the correct cup size for each breast. Likewise, dieters andwomen whose weight and size change from time to time, due to pregnancyor, alas, for other reasons, do not have to discard their favorite bras,but instead can simply substitute smaller or larger cups. Of coursespecial nursing cups may be provided for nursing mothers. Should thehalter become worn or stretched, it alone need be replaced.

Increasing numbers of women have undergone the traumatic experience ofmasectomy. Then they have been confronted with costly fittings forspecially made prosthetic brassieres. The subject invention providesthese women with practical and for more economical means for satisfyingtheir imperative and uniquely personal needs.

Finally, many of the current fashions while requiring a proper fit donot lend themselves to the wearing of separate under-garments. As willbe noted, the subject invention is particularly well suited in suchcases to be incorporated as an integral part of the outer garmentitself.

In its preferred embodiment this invention contemplates a brassiereincorporating a halter having a back, sides and straps and separate cupsadapted to be releasably attached to one another and to the sides andstraps of the halter. The back and sides of the halter or portionsthereof maybe fully or partially elasticized and may be provided withmid-back or side fastening means. The cups are formed in a variety ofsizes, shapes and styles to permit the wearer to modify the undergarmentto match her individual contours and aesthetic tastes. If desired, thehalter, with or without the straps,

may be incorporated as an integral partof other wearing apparel.

IN THE DRAWINGS The construction and use of the invention will be morefully understood from the detailed description of several'of itsalternative embodiments which follows, when read in connection with theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a partial front view of a model wearing a brassiere embodyingthe subject inventions;

FIG. 2 is a rear view of the halter of the brassiere il Iustratedin'FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is 'a front view of a typical cup of the subjection invention;

FIG. 4 is arear view of the cup illustrated in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a rear perspective view of a bra-slip incorporating thesubject invention; and

FIG. 6 is a rear view of the cups of the brassiere illustrated in FIG.5.

Wherever practicable the same numeral will be used to designate the sameor substantially equivalent elements in the several figures.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIGS. 1 4, thesubject invention consists of a halter 11, a pair of cups l2, and meansfor releasably attaching the cups 12 to one another and to the halter 11to form a'more or less conventional appearing brassiere 13.

In one preferred embodiment of the invention halter 11 has a backportion 15, sides 16, and a pair of straps 17 attached securely to theupper edge of back 15. The halter may be made in any desired width andin any of the well known styles. The materials used and the details ofits construction are matters of wide choice, but preferably it is madein conventional small, medium, large and extra-large sizes, and at leasta portion of the back 15 or sides 16 is elasticized to insure properfitting.

Cups 12 are formed separately in a variety of shapes and styles, such asdecollete, sport, wired, unwired, padded, unpadded, etc., using any ofthe well known fabrics, textures, colors, decorations and constructiontechniques. Naturally, they are made in different sizes, such as theconventional AA, A, B, C, D, etc., to accommodate even the mostdifficult to fit figures. Dropcups for nursing mothers and filled cupsfor surgical patients are likewise available.

The sides 16, cups l2, straps 17 are provided with releasable attachmentmeans, such as sliding hooks 21 and loops 22, snaps 23,'zippers, hooksand eyes, selfadhering pads, or the like, to enable the user quickly andeasily to attach the cups 12 to one another and to the sides 16 ofhalter 11 and the straps 17 to the upper edges of cups 12.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 2-4 the halter 11 is of one-piececonstruction and the brassiere is secured at the front by means of hooks25 and eyes 26 in the adjacent edges of cups 12. For women who preferthe back or side attachment style, similar conventional attachment means(not shown) may be provided in the back 15 or sides 16 of halter 11.

From the foregoing description of one of its embodiments some of themany and varied applications and advantages of the subject inventionshould be readily apparent. FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate another embodimentof the invention.

Here the halter 11 is shown incorporated as an integral part of anotherpiece of wearing apparel, typified by a bra-slip. It will be understoodthat a similar arrangement is adaptable to practically any other type ofgarment.

In this connection it might be pointed out that with some garments, suchas elasticized swimwear, form fitting dresses, and the like, the backand sides of the garment itself may be adapted to serve as the halter 11by the placement of attachment means inside the garment, one set ateither side of the bodice and others above the center of each cup 12..lnsome garments the support furnished by the garment may be sufficient toallow the straps 17 to be dispensed with. In others, such as low-cutgowns, the strap may be attached to the upper edge of the bodice, ratherthan to the cups 12. As before, the versatility and ease of use of theinvention should be apparent without further explanation.

Having thus described several embodiments of my improved brassiere, Iclaim as my invention:

1. A brassiere comprising:

a halter encircling a wearers back and having side terminal edges,

shoulder straps attached at one of their ends to rearward portions ofsaid halter,

a pair of breast cups, each separably attached to respective sides ofsaid terminal edges of said halter and separably attached to each otherto form a front portion of said brassiere, said pair of breast cupshaving been selected from a plurality of other cups of different sizesso as to fit varying contours of the body of the wearer, the other endsof said shoulder straps being separably fastened to the top of saidcups.

2. A brassiere in accordance with claim 1 wherein said pair of breastcups are of sizes different from each other.

3. A brassiere in accordance with claim 1 wherein said halter isresilient.

4. A brassiere in accordance with claim 1 wherein:

said halter is made of resilient material, and

said breast cups are attached to said halter, each other, and saidshoulder straps by fastening means including cooperating sets of hooksand eyes.

5. A brassiere in accordance with claim 1 wherein:

said halter is made of resilient material, and

said breast cups are fastened to said halter, each other, and saidshoulder straps by fastening means including interacting snap fasteners.

6. A brassiere in accordance with claim 1 wherein said halter is anintegral part of a piece of wearing apparel.

7. A brassiere in accordance with claim 6 wherein said breast cups arepositioned inside said piece of wearing apparel subjacent the bodiceportion thereof.

8. A brassiere in accordance with claim 7 wherein:

the tops of said breast cups are attached to the bodice portion of saidpiece of wearing apparel, and

said other ends of said straps are attached to the bodice portion ofsaid piece of wearing apparel and are thereby fastened to the tops ofsaid breast cups.

1. A brassiere comprising: a halter encircling a wearer''s back andhaving side terminal edges, shoulder straps attached at one of theirends to rearward portions of said halter, a pair of breast cups, eachseparably attached to respective sides of said terminal edges of saidhalter and separably attached to each other to form a front portion ofsaid brassiere, said pair of breast cups having been selected from aplurality of other cups of different sizes so as to fit varying contoursof the body of the wearer, the other ends of said shoulder straps beingseparably fastened to the top of said cups.
 2. A brassiere in accordancewith claim 1 wherein said pair of breast cups are of sizes differentfrom each other.
 3. A brassiere in accordance with claim 1 wherein saidhalter is resilient.
 4. A brassiere in accordance with claim 1 wherein:said halter is made of resilient material, and said breast cups areattached to said halter, each other, and said shoulder straps byfastening means including cooperating sets of hooks and eyes.
 5. Abrassiere in accordance with claim 1 wherein: said halter is made ofresilient material, and said breast cups are fastened to said halter,each other, and said shoulder straps by fastening means includinginteracting snap fasteners.
 6. A brassiere in accordance with claim 1wherein said halter is an integral part of a piece of wearing apparel.7. A brassiere in accordance with claim 6 wherein said breast cups arepositioned inside said piece of wearing apparel subjacent the bodiceportion thereof.
 8. A brassiere in accordance with claim 7 wherein: thetops of said breast cups are attached to the bodice portion of saidpiece of wearing apparel, and said other ends of said straps areattached to the bodice portion of said piece of wearing apparel and arethereby fastened to the tops of said breast cups.